Star Trek Type 3b Phaser rifle

I’ve always liked Star Trek and grew up with the Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager. For my next build I chose to make a Star trek weapon. After having a look at the various phasers that have appeared in the shows and movies I settled on the Type 3b phaser rifle. I also wanted to try some electrics in this project and had to plan how these would go into the build.

I started with a blueprint and used it to create templates and began cutting out the parts.

Since I didn’t have any really thick foamex the barrel was built from layered pieces cut on my band and scroll saw. They were further shaped on my belt sander before finished by hand. The groves were first marked out and then cut with a hand saw before being enlarger with a series of files.

The main body of the rifle was made with 2 pieces of MDF, which when sandwiched with some foamex on the sides would match the width of the grip. Since this was the narrowest bit I could build out the rest of the gun from this base.

A space was cut from the rear to hold the batteries and a channel was cut using my Dremel to hold the wiring for the scope LED’s. A further space was cut for the trigger and a spring added. It doesn’t look good at the moment but would be covered over later.

With the base skinned over and the barrel of the rifle finished, it’s time to start building it up.

Three LED’s were added into the left side panel before gluing with the wiring tucked neatly behind it. After painting a piece of red perspex will cover them.

I continued to cover the sides in styrene and foamex of various thicknesses. I have started using milliput to sculpt some of the angled sections.

Stock made from laminated foamex .

More styrene details

Rear side panels made from more foamex and syrene. I took quite awhile to get the beveled shape right. Above is the webbing strap which was attached inside the body of the gun and threaded through the side slot. I created a custom buckle from aluminium which the webbing was passed round and then sewn in place. The ends on the webbing were sealed to prevent fraying with a soldering iron.

Bit of a jump here after getting carried away making. I also had a few issues molding and casting the orange section having never done any before, but it’s finally done

The button on the right causes the scope and side panel to light up. The targeting reticule was draw using inkscape and printed on to inkjet transfer paper, then it was applied to white acrylic.